This invention relates generally to flight data recorders and, more particularly, to solid-state flight data recorders.
Flight data recorders are typically used in aircraft for storing flight test data and in spacecraft for storing data from various onboard instruments. Conventional magnetic tape recorders, which have been modified to withstand the adverse environments of flight and space, are widely used as flight data recorders. However, magnetic tape recorders have many moving parts and tend to breakdown frequently. Also, magnetic tape recorders have relatively low data transfer rates.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,648 to Capots discloses a solid-state flight data recorder in which a large array of semiconductor random access memory (RAM) chips is used for storing flight data. A central processing unit (CPU) performs the various control functions for the device. Although this solid-state device is faster and more reliable than conventional magnetic tape recorders, it does not provide the speed and reliability that is needed for today's ever increasing data transfer rates and more complex data handling requirements. Accordingly, there is still a need for a fast and reliable flight data recorder. The present invention clearly fulfills this need.